Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 First Impressions Review and Sample Gallery

The Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 is a rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds camera whose most recognizable feature is its tilting electronic viewfinder. The GX9 provides a healthy serving of new features and performance improvements over its predecessor, the GX8.

The most notable changes include the removal of the low-pass filter on the GX9's 20MP sensor, 5-axis in-body image stabilization (up from 4-axis), slightly faster burst shooting and Bluetooth connectivity. The shutter unit has also been redesigned, with Panasonic claiming a 90% reduction in 'shutter shock' compared to the GX8. There's also a built-in flash - something the GX8 lacked - as well as some tweaks to image processing.

Panasonic appears to have rearranged their lineup a bit, with the GX9 serving more as a midrange model than its predecessors, sitting alongside the DSLR-style DMC-G85. The price has come down to $999 with a kit lens, compared to $1199 for the GX8's body alone. Alongside the price drop, some features found on the GX8 are now gone, such as weather-sealing. The EVF is smaller and battery life has dropped by about 25%, as well.

The GX9's closest peers are the Fujifilm X-E3 and Sony's a6300, both of which have 24MP APS-C sensors, hybrid autofocus systems (which the GX9 lacks) and 4K video capture.

* The 12-32mm lens pictured above is not the kit lens, which is the Panasonic Lumix G 12-60mm F3.5-5.6 OIS.

Key Specifications

20.3MP Four Thirds sensor with no low-pass filter

'Dual IS' 5-axis in-body image stabilization

Depth from Defocus contrast-detect AF

Tilting 2.76M-dot electronic viewfinder

3" 1.24M-dot touchscreen display

6 fps burst shooting with continuous AF

4K UHD video capture at 30p

Built-in flash

Redesigned shutter mechanism with electromagnetic drive

New L. Monochrome D and Grain Effect color modes

Wi-Fi + Bluetooth

All-in-all that's a pretty nice feature set, with the removal of the low-pass filter promising better resolution and the new shutter reducing the shutter shock which plagued its predecessor. Panasonic also added some new tricks to its 4K Photo mode that we'll touch on later.

Compared to...

Now let's take a look at how the GX9 not only compares to its predecessor but also how it stacks up against Fuji's X-E3 and Sony's a6300.

Panasonic GX9

Panasonic GX8

Fujifilm X-E3

Sony a6300

MSRP

$999 (w/12-60mm lens)

$1199 (body only)

$1299 (w/18-55mm lens)

$999 (w/16-50mm lens)

Sensor

20MP Four Thirds (no OLPF)

20MP Four Thirds

24MP X-Trans APS-C

24MP APS-C

Image stabilization

5-axis (Dual IS)

4-axis (Dual IS)

Lens only

Lens only

ISO range (full)

100-25600

100-51200

AF system

Contrast-detect (DFD)

Hybrid

Hybrid

AF joystick

No

Yes

No

Burst rate (C-AF)

6 fps

8 fps

LCD

1.24M-dot tilting 3" touchscreen

1.04M-dot fully articulating 3" touchscreen

1.04M-dot fixed 3" touchscreen

921k-dot tilting 3" LCD

Viewfinder

2.76M-dot LCoS (tilting)

2.36M-dot OLED (tilting)

2.36M-dot OLED (fixed)

Viewfinder magnification

0.7x equiv.

0.77x equiv.

0.62x equiv.

0.71x equiv.

Built-in flash

Yes

No

No

Yes

Video

4K UHD @ 30p

Wi-Fi

Yes, w/BT

Yes

Yes, w/BT

Yes, w/NFC

Weather-sealed

No

Yes

No

Yes

Battery life

260 shots

340 shots

350 shots

Dimensions

124 x 72 x 47mm

133 x 78 x 63mm

121 x 74 x 43mm

120 x 67 x 49mm

Weight (CIPA)

450 g

487 g

337 g

404 g

The GX9 (left) is noticeably smaller than the GX8.

You can see that the differences between the GX9 and GX8 are a mixed bag. The GX9 loses the low-pass filter, get an extra axis (rotation) of image stabilization and adds Bluetooth and a flash. However, its viewfinder is smaller, body no longer weather-sealed and battery life has taken a turn for the worse. Speaking of viewfinders, Panasonic has gone back to a field sequential panel (a different technology than traditional LCD or OLED,) which some people may find distracting due to 'color tearing'. The LCD is now tilting versus fully articulating, which some people may find as an upgrade, and others will not.

The 20MP Live MOS sensor on the GX8 is as high resolution as you'll find on a Micro Four Thirds camera, though larger APS-C sensors perform a bit better at high sensitivities. Both the X-E3 and a6300 have hybrid (contrast + phase detect) autofocus systems, though Panasonic's DFD system has performed quite well despite lacking phase-detection. The GX8 has higher resolution LCDs and an EVF that's quite a bit bigger than the X-E3's. Both the X-E3 and a6300 have faster burst rates and 35% higher battery life.

Accessories

Two accessories for the DC-GX9 really caught our eye, and would likely be placed in the shopping cart next to the camera if we bought one.

The GX9 shown with its optional DMW-HGR2 grip.

The GX9 doesn't have a huge grip and we found ourselves really liking the available DMW-HGR2 grip. The grip protrudes quite a bit, so smaller hands might find it a bit too substantial, but those of us in the DPReview office who tried it had no complaints. The one downside is that it must be removed in order to access the battery and memory card compartment.

GX9 with optional DMW-EC5 eyecup.

If you find yourself shooting outdoors with the EVF then the DMC-EC5 eyecup is a must. Without the eyecup this reviewer found himself using his left hand to keep light out of the viewfinder, rather than bracing the camera for stability, and for $19, buying it is a no-brainer. Getting at the diopter correction knob can be a bit challenging with it attached, though.

Pricing and Availability

The DC-GX9 will begin shipping in early March at a price of $999 with the Panasonic Lumix G 12-60mm F3.5-5.6 OIS lens. (Keep in mind that the GX8 launched at $1199, body only.) Other regions will likely have other kits available.

Bought a DC-GX9 with the kit lens a few weeks ago. The difference between body only and with kit lens is insignificant, however, not good enough for the body. I use an old 14-150mm vario-elmar with a 43 to m43 adaptor.

Why did I buy this camera, well, after years of using various makes, found the colour rendition and sharpness satisfactory. It is replacing a Lumix GM5, mainly because this body has built in "anti-shake". The GM5 has been a fabulous camera. Weather sealing would have been nice but not a deal-breaker.I am still "discovering" the camera, so here are one or two features I really like.1. The grip is fairly comfortable, and there are two "roller" wheels, one at the back left top edge, and the other at the front top a bit in. These can be used when in manual mode to change the f stop and shutter speed.2. The top controls are well placed easy to find, in particular, the +and - exposure control.I hope these comments helps someone.Keep Smiling

Received mine yesterday morning, along with the 20 1.7.Awesome, powerful little camera (not much larger than my beloved LX1000) with great face detect AF and excellent tracking. The tech crammed into this thing is embarrassing to my 2014 era Nikons.

I was keen to get a hold of the grip too but for my GX85. I am in Australia and similarly there was no stock and no-one knew much about it.

So I ordered it from B&H and had it shipped from NY. Total landed cost for me was approx AUD$100 so it wasn't cheap. But it's really good - well made, fits perfectly and for me it made a big difference when I was walking around holding the camera with one hand. My hand is not fatigued like it used to get without the grip. Well worth the investment.

Field sequential, lower battery life, for $999, that's crazy. Realistic prices for the a6300 are more like $799. Also, Olympus's older(but better than the new) EM10II gives IBIS, 8.5fps, OLED EVF (anything but field sequential!) and a longer battery life for about half of $999, with kit lens!

i’ve been looking for something to shoot a little bit of light commercial work for the company I work for. Products and stuff and an occasional video clip. I was really ready to love the GX9. The form factor seemed just right to me. I had no qualms at all about whether it was labeled G or a GX or whatever they wanted to call it. I thought it was going to be something that gave me the same feeling as the Fuji X 100 series but with more flexibility ( and there’s something I just don’t like about the Fujifilm XT 20). When I got the Lumix in hand it just didn’t have “it”. It felt kind of hollow and cheap in the same way that the GX 85 did. I couldn’t even bring myself to run it through its paces. It was lacking wu or whatever they call it in Japan. So sadly I sent it back. I bought a Sony a 6000 and the fast 35 mm prime. That will have to keep me until I find the Grail.

WLAN issue, firmware bug?I´m using the GX9 for about two weeks. The only problem so far concerns connecting the camera DIRECTLY (not via network) to a (Laptop) PC by WLAN.Compared to my old Lumix DMC-G81 (aka G80 or G85) the configuration process runs much slower, in the end data transfer works properly.But reconnecting via "History" or "Favorites" can be achieved on the same day only. Trying it from the next day on or even simply changing the Laptops system date causes the reconnection to fail bringing up error message "No destination found". Reconfiguration from scratch is necessary.Nothing of that kind happens with the G81, I built up the connection once, months ago, reconnecting successfully via "Favorites" ever since.A known issue with the GX9?

Does anybody own both the GX85/80 and the GX9?I am wondering how much better the GX9 is at low light high ISO in real life usage. Indoor sport facility for example. (Yes, I know this is not the typical camera you would use for indoor sport but I do not have a specific camera rig for each type of situation, looking for a small all round m43).Has anbody figured out if it has the sensor from G9 or if it is an old modified GX8 sensor?I am thinking of upgrading my GM1 and thought the GX9 seemed like the perfect choice with the 20Mpix. But with the price of the GX85/80 being very attractive right now and the only big difference is the resolution of the sensor then I might save some money and go with the GX85/80 for now. Even though it kind of hurts getting a 16Mpix camera 2018.....

The gx9 is not a replacement of the gx8, but an upper model to the gx85. Panasonic will either drop the gx8 (Professional weather sealed rangefinder) or will launch later this year a proper replacement to the gx8.

@Jeff Keller GX9 is actually starting to grow on me and I am likely to upgrade from GX80, trade in and pay on the top. I would really appreciate the tilting EVF, better cropping possibilities, the AF lever and the LE Bluetooth for remote and establishing of connection. Now the big question is: does the exposure compensation work in M mode with Auto ISO to bias the 'brightness' by moving ISO when adjusting the exposure compensation, just like on G9, Sony's, Nikons, Canons and Pentax? And if yes, does it behave the same in video mode? If yes than that is a deal maker to me. Thanks for answering if you know.

Ok, so I found an answer that it works in photo mode. Yet to find an answer whether it works in video mode too. Nevertheless I am upgrading. I had G9 at home and did not like the size at all. The grip was actually giving me a pain in the wrist somehow, even though everyone comments how comfortable it is....

Been shooting with the Olympus M1 II 300mm f4 combo for seven months. Mostly shoot songbirds and of course larger BIF. I never shoot video I ordered a G9 and found the faster refresh rate of the EVF resulted in less contrast and clarity . I leave the M1 II at the default setting and it's fine. I cranked the G9 EVF to the max and still not bright enough with lower contrast. Also my 300mm F4 focuses faster on the M1 II

"What the GX9 ended up being was a GX8 with modest but still important improvements."Nope. It's a GX85 with modest but still important improvements. One look makes this pretty obvious. It doesn't look anything like a GX8, and it lacks the GX8's gorgeous large EVF, which pretty much kills it for me except as a second camera.

That is the thing. Like you can't really build just a mechanical tilting platform to "compare" IBIS functionality, as camera handling ain't such. That is the difference where different algorithms are required for the different motion, and steady repeated mechanical motion is not same thing as handholding something with random shake differently from different lenses.

Panny only need to catch up with tracking and they will murder the others for compact cameras with high enough imsge quality. And isnt that whst 99% of the market is moving towards. I had a shoot out with m4/3 cam vs note 8. Not a big difference in 8x12 print. So i as well as many others am gettibg addicted to portability with performance

Agree. Dont install features that dont work fluidly in real life. Thats dishonest. Sony are there in many ways. Better watch out panny. Dont be cruel to your lovers. Thats just plain arrogance. Just sold my lovely gx85. Why. Shocked how you could tear my eyes out with your viewfinder. That really hurt. I am not going on any dates with you.

I'd be willing to shell out $1,200 if the kit lens was the Leica 12-60 f/2.8-4.0. But alas, they only offer the more pedestrian 12-60 f/3.5-5.6. Very disappoint with how they are positioning the camera.

Panasonic. I hope you are reading this. The GF1 and the GX7 were the pinnacle of your cameras. Your marketing MUST know that launching a product like this is a slap in the face of all your potential customers.You are digging your own grave! WHAT are you thinking???

WHY would anyone buy this when they can buy a X-T20 with a wonderfully bright kitlens? A sensor that steps over anything M43? Your offerings have to improve dramatically if you want to sell any cameras.

AF-wise you HAVE to come up with a solution. Lightyears behind the competition.Keep 20MP, Keep IBIS.Give us a kit lens that is worth a damn! Honestly F2.8 zoom has to become a standard (comparing to the 18-55 f2.8-4 Fuji).And do things that other brands aren't.

A mirrorless with 1000 shot battery life?If you have any sensor tech (organic) USE it. It's TIME!Leaf shutter all your camera's so crazy sync flash is possible?Have an OPEN JPG engine of sorts, built/supported by the community?Open JPG engine?

What's with the comment in brackets on page 3 of the review?? I've cut & pasted it below.

The DC-GX9 has a pair of menus which can be customized. First is the Quick Menu, to which you can assign up to ten functions, or leave it at defaults [is this still the two mode Q.Menu: the one that looks like a cheap compact or the huge touchscreen custom one? If so, say so.].

If the GX85 is anything to go by (and I'm afraid it is), the EVF has got very high resolution, but is let down by weird colors, the rainbow effect from the sequential panel, quite poor optics (typical Panasonic), and a dumb 16/9 aspect ratio, making the view much smaller than the magnification number suggests when shooting in native...4/3 ratio.

Yes, a disappointment. A great EVF is a must; if you can't see it you can't shoot it. I received a GX9 yesterday, put in the battery and looked through the viewfinder. Yick. Vastly inferior to the Olys I have. Didn't put a card in the slot. Repacked it and sent it back. However, the EVF in G9 is quite impressive and superior to the OMD EM1 Mk2.

The reason for the "deceased" battery life in the GX9 is because the GX9 now has a flash whereas the GX8 doesn't. CIPA Standards for measuring battery life in a digital camera with a flash is that every other photo taken must use full-power flash illumination. Therefore, the GX9 gets 130 non-flash photos AND 130 full-power-flash photos whereas the GX8 gets 340 non-flash photos. DPReview should have explained that.

I would imagine that full-power flash in the GX9 would be consuming around half of the battery power used to make that photo. If so, those 130 full-power-flash photos would consume as much battery as 260 non-flash photos. If so, then the GX9 would actually be getting about 390, or 50 more than the GX8, non-flash photos per charge.

Well, just to split hairs... I'm finding 8.64Wh (7.2v, 1,200mAh) for the GX8 and 7.59Wh (7.4v, 1,025mAh) for the GX9. ;)

Smaller EVF on the GX9. But I believe LCOS needs more power for equivalent brightness/area vs. OLED. Hardly my area of expertise, so hell if I know the difference in power consumption between the 2 EVFs...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend or denounce the GX9 or GX8. I own neither, nor will I. But the battery life comparison, when comparing a flash camera to a non-flash camera, should be so disclosed/explained. And frankly, CIPA should have a no-flash battery rating alongside its "normal" battery rating for cameras with built-in flash so as to remove some ambiguity. But even then, there's the variable of how much battery that flash will consume at full-power, as different flashes will have varying consumption.

Besides, who shoots 50% of their photos with full-power built-in flash? And so I propose that CIPA should have a 3rd battery rating which would be for 25% of photos to be taken at full flash output, and a 4th battery rating with every photo to be taken at full flash output. Lol, but I digress...

Alas, while I obviously haven't put the GX9 through a CIPA test for non-flash number of photos on a single full-battery cycle, I would still venture a confident guess that for non-flash photography the GX9 will take about as many photos as the GX8 will, give or take a few percent. In other words, my bet is that there is a negligible difference in battery consumption between the 2, and *possibly* a higher rating for the GX9.

Echo many of the concerns below. But for me I would most miss C1, C2 & C3 on the mode dial.I find these invaluable on the GX-8 for very quickly changing between commonly used settings. The GX-9 is supposedly aimed at street photography - for me speed of handling is the single most important thing. Capturing the "Decisive Moment" is about *when* you press the shutter and I don't want to be diving into menus or pressing combinations of F buttons if I see a woman jumping over a puddle.

Also, how many street photographers genuinely use a small on-board flash?

I had high hopes but feel let down and mislead. This is either a GX-7 mk III or a GX-90.

This looks awesome! The GX8 helped make me a Panasonic fan. And this has almost everything I could have hoped for, including the smaller size and flash. Retained the tilting EVF. GREAT ONE PANASONIC! There's always something though, too bad there's no weather sealing.

I can't remember if Dpreview staff ever mentioned, that panasonic actually using RAW lossy compression in .rw2 files. Too bad for me, I've done my conclusion after buying, seeing halo artifacts when pulling raws. How come I didn't pay attention, that panasonic's raws are all equal size, no matter what, and very small size, like sony have. DPR failed me in some way - we all should be informed, that RAWs are lossy without any option, every time they are. Ok, my camera is cheap. But high-end panasonics? Lossy? That's bad...

The fact that this camera is labeled as GX7 Mk III in JP said enough of the mess panasonic line up naming scheme in. When they released GX80/85/7 MKii, they made a big deal on how they were going to streamline it to make more sense for buyers. Don't get their logic behind it, trying to fool consumer or what. The camera itself isn't all that bad, but trying to hype up oversea folks by using a premium label while is just a refreshment in JP, that's quite a cheap move.Imagine Apple release the next iPhone upgrade and instead of the regular release, you just get one of those C line refreshment. They will be toasted.

Well it's called the GX7 MKIII in Japan, so maybe it's Panasonic USA at fault for the name changing? I mean in Japan, it's bundled with the 15mm or a Zoom option, yet we (in the states) get stuck with a Zoom option only. They're a lot of questions that need answering. This is NOT the successor to the GX8, this IS a GX7 MKIII and should be called as such.

Being in Japan, I owned the GX7-Mk II. It's an OK camera but recently sold it. Quite a capable camera. It has an excellent and responsive touch screen, 4K photo and other features. It is popular in Japan still ranking in the top 10 of cameras being sold here. I sold mine primarily because it was only a side kick camera to my Olympus flagship, the O-MD E-M1 Mark-II. Also, the focus system is still based on CDAF only whereas Olympus along with Sony employ PDAF in addition to CDAF. If I were to get a sidekick again, most likely I'd go for the same GX7 Mark-II again as I don't see any thing compelling in this new GX9. All they do is change the model number, reposition buttons, and other minor cosmetic changes. The camera industry in general is basically flat until it comes up with some new compelling evolutionary if not revolutionary technology such as the organic sensor in R&D, global shutter. It's coming but when.

From GX and single digit in the name I was expecting G9 performance in a refined large and nice GX8 style weather sealed body . Icing on the cake would be oversized (as in GH1, GH2 and GH5s), but 20MP sensor.

This camera should have double digits name as it firmly sits lower in the range!

Who the heck wrote this review up? The graph doesn't give Sony credit in sections where it's better than the other cameras being compared to. The graph certainly gives credit where Sony fails against the others though. Hmm.

Gee, no weather sealing, smaller EVF, 25% less battery life, AND only a tilting LCD, that's quite a downgrade.

I do like the idea of no low-pass filter, but I think I'll keep my GX8, which has everything I need, including weather sealing, beautifully large EVF, and a fully articulating rear view screen. In fact, I can see the GX8 model now going UP in value : )

We've added the Panasonic GX9 to this buying guide to to place its specifications and features in context, alongside its competition. When our full review is complete the camera will be considered for an award.

Nominally at least, the new Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 is the successor to the GX8. But while it has a lot in common with the earlier model, the new camera comes with some serious updates, and a couple of caveats. Here's what you need to know.

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